SUPERMARKET giant Asda today stepped up its price war with rival Tesco by announcing further cuts worth #100 million during the next four months.

It follows Tesco's own announcement earlier this month that it, too, was rolling back prices, to the tune of #60 million.

Asda said its price cutting exercise would be introduced at a "greater pace" than ever before, coming on the back of a further round of #100 million savings since the start of the year.

The chain said the move signalled two "very successful years" under its American owners, Wal-Mart.

It said it now had eight million customers compared with 6.5 million when Wal-Mart took over in 1999, while industry magazine The Grocer recently named Asda as Britain's most consistently cheap place to shop.

Tesco said it remained Britain's favourite place to shop, insisting that Asda had "lost its crown" as Britain's cheapest supermarket following its own rounds of cuts.

A spokesman said: "We have already had two rounds of price cuts this year and there will be more."